


Ghost Town Lovers

by Gayneral



Series: Ghost Town Series [2]
Category: South Park
Genre: Butters and Kenny deserve the best, Confessions, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Growing Up, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-12 01:44:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13537020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gayneral/pseuds/Gayneral
Summary: Back then Kenny had been very hung up on the Idea that Butters was too good for him.That Butters had a future out of South Park that would allow him to move on and be happy somewhere bright and warm.And that he, Kenny, would never have the chance to a future like that.But with Butters still in South Park, and Kenny on the run to finally making himself a future, maybe the tables had turned enough for him to have a chance.[Direct Sequel to Ghost Town Resident]





	Ghost Town Lovers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WrongDecision](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrongDecision/gifts).



> I'm back with a second part to my Oneshot  
> It's only been two days which is a personal record If I recall that right.  
> This mostly goes out to Nina and Ren who asked for a sequel and I love them enough to sit down and write it almost immeditately despite [TMI] accidentally stabbing the skin under my nail with a fixing pin this morning
> 
> Aaanyway, just like with the first part of this, I'm not sure if I like it  
> Especially since this is the first Time that I've written something fluffy, which I think is obvious 
> 
> Reading Ghost Town Resident isn't necessary to understand this one but you can do it anyway if you'd like

It wasn’t very hard to be disliked by Linda and Stephen Stotch but it was like they had seen Kenny and had decided he was the devils spawn that had crawled out of hell to corrupt their son.  
More than once he’d heard them making comments about his appearance, about the lack of money on his hands and the supposedly bad influence he was on Butters.  
It wasn’t a rare occasion for them to quite literally insult Kenny right in front of him, talking trough him as if he stood too low in society to be regarded by them.  
It went without saying that the Stotches weren’t a good influence themselves, but Kenny knew better than to say that out loud.

If it wasn’t for Butters still having to live under their roofs, Kenny would’ve said all those horrible, but true, things he thought about them right into their faces, just to watch the way they’d gasp for air after being talked to like that.  
Keeping his mouth shut when they talked about him, and their son like that always proved to be a challenge.  
With Butters as their son, who accepted their harsh treatment without complaints, they had never been told just what terrible monsters, sad excuses for human beings, they were.  
And shit, they deserved hearing that at least once in their lives.

But eventually it would all fall back on Butters.  
His parents were absolutely arbitrary when it came to punishing their son for things.  
Anything Kenny would say, Butters would get hurt for it, and so he swallowed all the bitter thoughts down and locked them away for the glorious moments in his dreams when he was able to say it all without consequences.

With the Stotches seeing him as nothing but the dirt under their soles, it was no surprise Mr. Stotch was completely unwilling to let him know if Butters was home when Kenny had stood at their door one afternoon.  
Butters father barely opened the door an inch, his frame blocking the view into their living room completely.  
Inside, Kenny was able to hear the TV running but it was otherwise silent, no voices giving away who was inside.  
Mr. Stotch held onto the door as if he was scared Kenny would barge through it and steal all his belongings if he’d allow him even a centimeter of insight into their home.

Over the years Kenny had outgrown most people around town, almost two meters in height, and maybe the fact that he was able to look down on Stephen gave the Father a sense of inferiority that only fueled his hate against Kenny.

Perhaps he should’ve called Butters instead of just appearing at his house but Kenny bet his last pair of good jeans that Stephen and Linda monitored Butters Phone and would know of Kennys intentions before their son could even react.

Now he was at the mercy of Stephen Stotch and if it wasn’t for a miracle to happen, his chances were very bad.  
Kenny didn’t believe in miracles though, he’d seen too much to hope that some magical luck or fate would play his life like a puppeteer to work in his favour.

“Please just tell me if your son is Home”, he’d asked of the older man that was still blocking the door like a guard dog ready to jump his throat, hoping he didn’t sound as desperate as he felt.  
He did not want to give Stephen the pleasure of seeing him wounded.

It had been without avail in the end, when the door had been thrown shut right in his face and if Kenny hadn’t moved his head backwards just in time his nose would’ve been broken again.  
His face had endured so many injuries already that it wouldn’t have mattered too much, his nose already crooked at the bridge, but his pride would’ve taken some damage.

Some people would’ve given up then, turned their backs on the house and told themselves that they’d return another day only to let go of the idea completely.  
But Kenny had gone through enough months without a plan, had waded too long through that swamp of hopeless until he’d found steady ground, to give up the little progress he’d made this easily.  
He’d chase after this possible future until he’d catch up to find out if it was the piece he needed for the puzzle that was his life as an adult.

If getting to Butters to have a nice heartfelt talk meant climbing into his room again, he’d do it.  
What had worked when he was twelve should still work at age nineteen, or so he’d thought as he’d waited for the darkness to settle over South Park like a thick blanket, safely hidden away from the prying eyes of Linda and Stephen Stotch.  
Kenny had entered through windows a lot when he’d been younger, mostly in the disguise of his Hero alter-ego Mysterion but he had to admit he hadn’t scrambled up house facades for a long time.  
While he sat against the fence in front of Cartmans house, which couldn’t exactly classify as Cartmans house anymore since he’d moved out half a year ago, he thought back, trying to pinpoint the exact moment when he’d stopped seeing Butters as the weird naïve kid from their class.

For some reason Butters had always liked him a lot, which, way different from his parents, wasn’t exactly a hard goal to reach.  
Butters was nice to everyone, he’d even still been nice to Cartman, though the fatass had treated him like nothing but trash.  
It was like Butters lived in a world that didn’t know hate or evil and perhaps he’d build that Fantasy for himself, a sort of protective bubble, to shelter his mind from the abuse he suffered.  
Thinking about it like that, it was all very sad.

Kenny had always been impressed by the strength that vested inside of the blond boy that he himself seemed completely oblivious to.  
Staying so positive was close to impossible in a town like this that sucked happiness out of you like a giant, insatiable Insect.

They had been on Hawaii together once, which was the closest Kenny had ever been and would most likely ever get to Vacations, despite a couple of murders happening meanwhile.  
But all through Elementary and Middle School, he’d never seen anything in Butters.  
Maybe all the breast growth that countless of people had experienced in fifth and sixth grade had distracted Kenny more than he thought.

Butters however had considered him his best friend from sixth grade on, when they had both missed the school bus and Kenny had walked with him all the way to school.  
If it wouldn’t have been for Butters breaking down on the sidewalk, crying that he simply couldn’t be late to school, Kenny would’ve just turned around and stayed home.

The sight of Butters in the snow, rubbing his knuckles together, a habit he hadn’t gotten rid of even now that he was eighteen, had changed Kenny’s mind though and he had, wordlessly, just like all the way back in fourth grade, taken Butters hand to walk with him.

The next day Butters still hadn’t been through with his excess of Thank you’s and ever since, when they’d been asked who their best friend was, he answered “Kenny’s my best friend in the whole world”, with a smile so bright and naïve that Kenny hadn’t managed to tell him that they really weren’t best friends at all.

After being elected BFF, there had been no outrunning Butters friendliness anymore.  
He’d always found Kenny in the lunch breaks to bring him a toast and whatever fruit was currently in season.  
Kenny was sure Butters had gotten into trouble for that too, that his father must’ve notice more food missing that usually, but Butters had continued to bring him something for the next two years.

When they had hit high school, Kenny had beat up Cartman, who still hadn’t laid off Butters, and when he sat in front of the principal’s office with a bloody nose he had to admit to himself that maybe Butters had evolved to be his best friends somewhere along the way.

Perhaps that was the moment that had eventually sealed his fate because Cartman had asked him, holding an ice pack to his eye:  
“Why the fuck did you protect that fag Butters?! He deserved a good beating!”  
And Kenny hadn’t hesitated to answer  
“The only one that deserves to get the shit beaten out of him is you, you asswipe on two legs! Butters is a fucking great person! I swear if you ever lay one of your fat hands on him again I’ll break all of your fucking bones!”

Cartman had screamed for the principal then, saying Kenny had threatened to kill him, and Kenny had ended up with an extra week detention and the realization that he’d meant every word he had shouted into Cartmans stupid face.  
Of course Butters had been grounded for having gotten beat up but by the time Kenny had sat through the three weeks of detention, he’d been free after school again.  
Their first day in freedom had been spend behind the school, where the kids usually stood to smoke so the teachers wouldn’t catch them, and Kenny had taught Butters how to fight.

Needless to say Butters had been a bit reluctant about it at first, arguing that he didn’t want to use violence, no matter the situation, but in the end Kenny had been able to convince him to at least learn some blocking techniques.  
It had been cold, in the months when winter slowly transformed into spring, but Kenny had shrugged off his thick coat anyway, thrown over the old, tattered bag he carried his school supplies in.

For hours on, no one had passed by and the darkness had begun to set in without either of them noticing.  
Kenny had walked Butters home, not only because his home was on the way anyhow, but also because he felt responsible for Butters, and he had been witness to Butters getting grounded again.

Feeling guilty, Kenny had sent Butters a message to apologize that evening but Butters, being Butters, had heard nothing of it and instead just replied  
[I had lots of fun today, thank you Kenny]  
The tall Teen had laid in his bed that night, phone pressed to his chest, heart beating in an unfamiliar rhythm.

Noticing that he was in love with Butters had taken another year and had mostly been caused by Stan pointing out one day that he, quote “Hangs out a lot with Butters lately”  
It had been just the two of them that afternoon in Stans room, Kyle off at basketball practice and Cartman not invited, and Kenny had been distracted enough by Stans words for his character to get shot on screen.  
Cursing into the fabric of his turtleneck, he had turned to Stan to tell him that he had no right to make such a comment.  
Kyle and Stan had even in High school, still been inseparable and getting them alone had been as rare as catching a female eevee.

But Stan had looked at him with an expression that had instantly gotten Kenny to shut up.  
While he was absolutely oblivious when it came to the crush his best friend had on him ever since fourth grade, Stan was surprisingly perceptive about anything else.  
There had been no talking about it but Kenny had sighed deeply and Stan had laid a hand on his back that was warm even through the thick fabric of his sweater.  
Stan was aware that sometimes silent comfort was needed, and he provided it perfectly.

Butters was good at it as well, all though his hands were smaller than Stans, and he relied on hugs a lot more.  
Whenever Butters hugged him, Kenny had been reminded how much shorter, how much softer Butters was than him.  
Kennys life had shaped him into a form full of sharp edges, rough surface that had broken countless of times, held together with cheap glue from the dollar store.

Back then Kenny had been very hung up on the Idea that Butters was too good for him.  
That Butters had a future out of South Park that would allow him to move on and be happy somewhere bright and warm.  
And that he, Kenny, would never have the chance to a future like that.

He’d seen Stan take out Wendy for Dinner and listened to his stories of inviting her into his home afterwards, where they had fallen asleep, cuddling.  
Kenny found himself wanting the same with Butters but whenever he fantasized about it, he always got to the point where he couldn’t invite Butters anywhere because everything was too expensive, or to the fact that he could never take Butters to his place because it reeked of alcohol and smoke and the heating didn’t work.  
Imagining Butters humming to himself in between dirty walls and run down furniture where his drunk parents dwelled on, was like thinking of a Prince in the Gutter, or a Sunflower growing on the dump.

It was out of place.

He was out of place in Butters life, an ugly stain on something breathtakingly beautiful.

 

The sun had finally set behind the mountains and Kenny tried to shake the depressing thoughts out of his head as he got up and brushed the snow off himself.  
There was no use in beating himself down.  
With Butters still in South Park, and Kenny on the run to finally making himself a future, maybe the tables had turned enough for him to have a chance.

Luckily no one was in the living room anymore when Kenny started climbing.  
What had been a recklessly dumb Idea at age 12, turned out to be just as idiotic at age 19, but South Park was the city of impossible plans working, and so it only took Kenny three tries and scraped open knees and palms, to make it.  
Butters curtains were closed so it was impossible to see whether or not Kenny had been heard.

Kenny wasn’t sure how long the windowsill would still support his weight and had been thinking about how much it’d cost to replace it or if he’d die if he’d fall from up there, when the curtains moved.  
It was easy to miss, because Butters hadn’t opened them completely, only the right hand corner was lifted slightly, and Kenny was able to see bright blue eyes peeking out of the window, widened in fear.  
There was a moment where they exchanged silent looks and Kenny smiled brightly to assure Butters that he was not an intruder that would kill him at any given second.

“Oh geez Kenny, what are you doing here?” was how he was greeted once the window was open and Kenny spread snow all over the floor and Butters blanket as he jumped in.  
Even barely illuminated by the street lights outside, Kenny could make out Butters shape on the bed, blanket pulled around himself to shield himself from the cold that came creeping in behind Kenny.

“I came to see you”, he replied after he’d closed the window, sheepishly smiling as he noticed the snow under his boots.  
“Your Father wouldn’t let me in so I had to resort to drastic measures”  
Kenny was glad that in the darkness, Butters wasn’t able to see the way his face scrunched up as he spoke about Mr. Stotch.

“What if my Parents saw you climb up here? Oh god, did you get hurt?”  
Butters frantically moved out of his blanket cape to launch forward, voice getting a little louder and he slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide once more, not moving.  
The house stayed silent though, not giving away the nightly visitor up in Butters room and so he exhaled, shoulders dropping again.  
Kenny had to smile unwillingly and settled down next to his best friend, the bed creaking gently under the added weight.

“I made sure to wait until its dark. No one saw me, at least not that I noticed”  
He pressed his palms onto his thighs to make sure Butters would not see the skin torn open and bloody from falling.  
Butters had fixed and bandaged him too often already, and he hadn’t made that climb to get his wounds licked, figuratively speaking.  
If there’d still been school, he’d have to worry about his trousers being all dirty and red because Lord knows Butters would’ve not left that uncommented.

But they weren’t in school anymore and no one really cared if Kenny turned up anywhere bruised and battered.  
It wasn’t a very new look on him.

It’s hard to make out the expression on Butters face but he still seemed concerned, as if he was scanning Kenny for any marks.  
“Listen”, Kenny started, to break the silence, nervousness heavy like a hot stone in his stomach, choking back his words until he sounded breathless.  
“There’s a reason I’m here”

Perhaps even barely understandable and wrapped in darkness, it was noticeable how serious the atmosphere had gotten because Butters tilted his head and looked at him expectantly, hands folded in his lap.  
He sat on his knees, wearing the same baby blue pajamas he’d worn when Kyle had held his last collective sleepover at age 15.  
From then on only Stan slept over at his place regularly.

“You can tell me anything Ken”, sent Kenny’s heart into a looping and he found himself thinking  
‘Fuck I actually love him’  
If he’d had been any more gone in this moment he might’ve said it out loud but his throat still felt like he’d been restricted of all air, hands clammy and despite the cold, the sweat was rolling down his back.

So much to a romantic setting.  
There sure was nothing more romantic than breaking and entering, sweating buckets and leaving wet footprints on Butters floor.

“I, fuck, alright, I’d search for the right words and make it all sweet for you, honest, but this has to get out now or I’ll combust. And I tell ya, that’s an awful feeling.”  
He blindly reached for Butters hands in the darkness and they were so delicate in his own that he had to squeeze them to reassure himself this was real.  
“Butters, I’m in love with you”

The minutes after having spoken felt endless, and it was like being impaled and waiting to be pulled into darkness to be reborn. Shit ass painful and no fun.  
Around his neck the pressure returned and squeezed him tight.  
He watched Butters rub his eyes, once, twice, before the smile that spreads on his lips became visible even to Kenny who stared at it dumbfolded.  
It took him a couple seconds to register that Butters had been talking and it’s like his brain had to reboot like an old computer.

“What? Sorry, I...” He trailed off into laughter that sounded so nervous in his own ears that Kenny almost felt like it belonged to someone else.  
“Geez Ken, I’m really happy you say that, because I’m pretty sure I love you too”

From then on everything felt like straight out of a fairy tale, which was new for Kenny, who’d never even heard a fairytale, unless you’d count that Christmas story Cartman had written in fourth grade.  
They had their first kiss that night, with Kenny in bloody jeans and Butters in blue pajamas; giggling as if they were ten again, up in their room with their special little secret that no one knew about but them.  
Butters had tasted like toothpaste and he’d been red in the face when they had separated their lips again.  
It had looked so adorable that Kenny had tackled him to kiss all over his cheeks and only afterwards they’d realized that Kenny’s dirty shoes had been on the blanket the entire time.

Their first action, besides kissing, as a couple had been changing the bedsheets and hiding the old ones in Butters closet so his parents would not find out about the unwanted visitor.  
Kenny had left the same way he’d arrived, climbing out of the window, this time under the worried gaze of Butters who leaned out to watch Kenny until he was too far down the street to see Butters house anymore.

At home, Kenny had fallen into his bed, not giving a damn that his father had passed out in front of the TV again, cans of Papst Blue Ribbon all around him like a metal fortress, the sad proof of a damaged life.  
He had even changed out of his clothes that night, and stared at the ceiling with a happy little smile.  
Even without seeing himself, Kenny knew he was wearing the same look on his face that Stan had worn when he and Wendy had their first proper kiss out on Stark Pond when it had been frozen over and they’d all been ice skating.  
Like he was invincible.

Kenny got himself a car two months later, it was a rundown model, and he’d used his secret stash of money to buy it off a slightly shady looking man a bit out of town.  
Karen had just finished middle school a few weeks prior, at the top of her class.  
In old McCormick tradition his parents had hardly even acknowledged it and Kenny wished he could’ve done more for her than bring her a piece of cheap cake from the supermarket.  
In that night still he had looked up on High Schools in California, something good, something where Karen’s genius would get noticed.

When they had gotten into the Car, Karen had clenched her backpack really tight and had looked up at her older brother, asking “Are you sure?”  
It had only taken a “Hundred percent sure” for her to nod and turn her head from their house and towards the road, unconditional trust and Love for her Brother visible.  
And it gave Kenny the last kick he needed to start the car.

Driving out of South Park felt like the most powerful thing he had ever done in his whole life and when they had passed the sign that said ‘You’re leaving South Park. Come back soon’ he had shouted “Good fucking riddance!” at the top of his lungs.

They reached the University Butters studied at an hour later and Kenny tossed Karen his phone to text Butters to meet them at the Parking lot while he stopped the car’s engine.  
Butters face had confusion written all over it when he saw the vehicle with Kenny on the driver’s seat and his little sister next to him, two bags sitting on the back row.

“Kenny? What’s going on?”  
“Get in Buttercup, we’re leaving” he’d said with a bright smile that had only irritated Butters more.  
He looked seriously concerned for Kenny’s mental health when he answered, brows furrowed and knuckles rubbing against each other.  
“What…What do you mean we’re leaving, Kenny we can’t leave…my parents...”

Kenny had left the car at that point and had laid both his hands on Butters shoulders.  
The look in Butters eyes had gotten so desperate at the mention of his parents , as if someone had opened the cell door out of nowhere and left him there, too scared to step outside, too used to living inside that prison.  
“We can’t stay in South Park forever. You can’t stay with them forever. Listen, it’s okay if you don’t want to get in, but if you do I promise nothing will happen to you. “  
The tension hadn’t completely eased out of Butters shoulders yet but he didn’t look anymore as if he considered knocking Kenny out for his own safety.

“My parents, they would...”  
There had been silence for a few seconds and Kenny had been more and more sure that he and Butters would separate now, that Butters would return home to his miserable life.  
Perhaps ripping open that cell door had been too sudden for Butters, maybe he couldn’t take that step yet.  
Leaving with Butters had been part of Kenny’s vision, one of his reasons to do it in the first place, giving that dream up would be hard, but no matter how much it would hurt, he and Karen would leave South Park.  
With or without Butters.

“We need to buy me a new phone on the way” Butters had said after what had felt like an eternity and Kenny had been so confused that he’d stood in the parking lot with an open mouth while Butters entered the car.  
Kenny got his explanation once he got into the driver’s seat again.  
“After I write my parents that I won’t come back they surely will try to trace me by it. So I need a new one”  
Then he added, a little softer  
“And I might want to call them when we’re there. They are still my parents; I can’t let them worry too much”

“Wait, where will we go Ken? There is a plan, right?”  
They shared a look through the interior mirror  
“Oh Hamburgers, Kenny, You don’t have a plan?”

“Not really”, Kenny said with a shrug and a smile as he started the car again.

That was exactly it, he had no Plans and that’s why it would work.  
Having no Plan meant having nothing to hold them down.  
They were free to do whatever they wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it.  
> Comments and Kudos are highly appreciated (but of course not mendatory)
> 
> I hope I'll find the time and muse to write some more South Park oneshots soon  
> I've been in dire need of some Style so, that might be where it's heading


End file.
